Pickup trucks utilizing truck bed caps are well known in the industry. Typically these caps comprise a fiberglass or plastic molded structure that is configured to fit directly over the bed of a pickup truck. These devices usually allow for items to be transported in the pickup truck while still providing a level of protection against the elements as if it were being transported in, for example a moving van or another type of totally enclosed vehicle. Often, these devices are referred to as camper tops in that pickup trucks configured with such devices often are used by hunters or sportsmen as sleeping areas. Traditionally, truck bed caps are attached to pickup trucks utilizing fastening devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,739, entitled Truck Cap Clamp, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, features a clamp that is used to connect a truck cap to the rear of a pickup truck. Alternatively, or in addition to this, truck bed caps are connected to pickup trucks utilizing mounting rails such as the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,366, entitled Camper Shell Mounting Rail, the contents of which is likewise incorporated herein by reference.
An attribute of these devices is that they may not provide retention of the cap with the pickup truck in the event of a collision. Further, truck bed caps utilizing the just mentioned devices do not provide a hard mounting surface on the roof of the truck bed cap or on the insides of the truck bed cap. While it is true that many truck bed caps are fashioned with devices with “hard points” on the inside and/or on the outside of the caps, they are only as strong as the cap structure itself.
In an effort to provide or maintain the ability to mount items on the outside of the camper shell, camper shells have been devised that conform to existing light bars and the like with pickup trucks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,579 entitled, Camper Shell Structure, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entity, discloses a truck bed cap that has a smaller forward section that fits inside the roll bar assembly of a standard pickup truck. While this permits hard mounting surfaces on the outside of the truck bed cap, it does not allow for hard mounting surfaces on the inside of the cap. Furthermore, by reducing the interior volume of the forward section of the cap, the amount of storage space and utility space inside the truck bed cap is reduced.
Also, prior art retention devices do not address the possibility of installation error of the cap to the truck.
Increasingly, truck bed caps are becoming very expensive. Furthermore, customization of truck bed caps is on the rise. Thus, there is a desire on the part of the truck bed cap owners to protect the truck bed caps in the event of a collision, or simply to protect it from theft. Thus, it is desirable to minimize the possibility that the truck bed cap will become dislodged from the truck especially when involved in a collision.
The present inventor has invented a device that will help provide positive retention of a truck bed cap to a pickup truck that is involved in a collision, as well as maximizing the available storage space inside the truck bed cap and providing for maximum utility of the pickup truck while the pickup truck is configured with the truck bed cap.